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Did another defensive lapse show NOTHING has changed at Arsenal?

The Arsenal fans were promised change at the end of last season. Not the change that many of us wanted after more than two decades with Arsene Wenger as the manager seemed to have become stagnant and was producing the same old thing season after season.

Money was going to be spent they claimed, serious money, but we are still waiting for a se4cond summer signing who actually cost the club anything but wages, while all the Premier League clubs around us have spent way more once again.

We were promised that Arsene Wenger would do things differently and with his apparent determination to stop Alexis Sanchez from leaving even if it means losing him for nothing next summer, there were hints the Frenchman was going about things in a different and more forceful manner.

Then the players get on the pitch and right away we start to see the old failings. Being technically better than an opponent does not win you matches unless you put in the effort and are organised and committed, so when the Gunners came out after halftime half asleep for the second game in a row I must admit I groaned.

That is not the sign of a team with desire and togetherness. They are coasting again, so has nothing changed after all at Arsenal? Are we really going to have to endure this again?

No the transfer window did, it’s not just the stoke game. We were awful defensively against Leicester. A average coach would have noticed and changed the back 3/5, he would also notice that ox is wasted at LWB. I predicted that we wouldn’t finish in the top 4 this year and I’m actually thinking we won’t finish in the top 6. But my main worry has change to even if, even if, kronkie sold the club how far behind are we ???
Prediction wenger will come out and say ” we cannot compete financially with City and Utd some time this season. He will have forgotten about Leicester and Spuds ( who are stronger then us at the moment)

Of Course but another major fault is team selection…. When you have Holding, Mertesacker and Mustafi available then why Monreal and Kolasinac were playing CB…. Put Holding, Mertesacker and Mustafi at Back who will add some Solidity in defense… indecisiveness of Monreal lead to Stoke Goal… Back line could have been easily Mustafi, Mertesacker and Holding with Ox at RWB and Kolasinac as LWB… Another point is here Ozil was totally underperformed… He was also ineffective against Leicester… Why Iwobi wasn’t included in team instead of Ozil?? Horrible team selection…

The Stoke goal started with a lame attempt at intervention by Xhaka which totally failed, then Ozil trotted half-heartedly after the Stoke player only to give up without even so much as an attempt at a tackle, then Mustafi gave the Stoke player the inside of the box whilst he should have forced him outside only then did Monreal fail as last stop. This was a good old fashioned Arsenal defensive performance on this Stoke goal.

Why is Wenger playing fullbacks as center backs, wingers as fullbacks, rightbacks as leftbacks, strikers as wingers and midfielders as wingers? Wenger still thinks we are in pre-season that is why he is experimenting with player positions even though we have already started the league. We keep starting games with a 3-4-3 formation but always finish with the damned 4-5-1 formation..just showing his indecisiveness and unwillingness to change. Wenger is the biggest transfer we can get before the window closes..he needs to be fired.

Yes ..more so, how does Gabriel who was signed just a season ago get to be flogged off while an aging, ever-slowing Mertesacker stays? Also, mirror is reporting Mancity are offering 70M for Sanchez. I think we should take the money and reinvest…no point in losing a 70M asset because of desperation.

Agree on both points. Gabriel was actually quite good on the right of the three at the back.

We would be crazy not to sell Sanchez and replace him this season with a half way, decent player. Lemar? Not sure how good he is but he is improving and we won’t buy him next season for 70 million if we lose Sanchez and co for free.

Personally, I think Seri could be a major impact player for us. More so than Lemar. We should get them both and ship Ozil and Sanchez.

Here are some few questions I have for Wenger. Who assembled the large squad he is eager to trim down? Is a large squad a disadvantage or an advantage for rotation ? Or is he indirectly admitting that he assembled a large crop of average and below average players who are earning fortunes ? How long will it take him to realize that certain players only do well in their natural positions? (Montreal CB. Ox LWB. Welbeck position unidentified etc). Finally, does Wenger knows that any serious team identify it’s loopholes from previous season and amend them in time instead of panic buy? I am so sad.

OT: please how can I be emotionally detached to Arsenal or reduce the emotion I have for this lovely club? Whenever we lose in a pathetic way, I realised I have this strong headache for couple of hours. It’s not good for my health. Oh Men!

Yes, like what Henry has said. Arsenal always plays with the same system, only with the new formation in this season.

I know they will struggle to score from open play, because the other teams have already prepared for the 3-4-2-1. The tempo is still to fast, this created many mispasses and many better chances were skipped.

Gerrard also said Ozil is a ‘liability’. But Arsenal will never drop him, because he has to look fit in front of the potential buyers.

Arsenal once again. The usual.
Until the fans forcefully take the club back, the usual continues: Arsene’s legacy of loving failure and excuses, arsenal being brilliant for some weeks and losing decisive games at crucial time, a good run at fa cup, injuries more than any other top club, AKBs declaring total support for brilliant Wenger, the American animal torturer giving prof contract extension, Usmanov making weak attempts at takeover, Dangote forever promising to buy us out; and in that time, all the major clubs each clinch a prem title again, even spud having a taste, while for almost two decades we have been dreaming under Arsene’s sedatives!
But if only us fans can behave like fc Barcelona, Real Madrid or even manyoo fans for just a season! Then our football club will be given back to us with apologies.

Why will things change ?!? Its the same coach an old man with no vision, Wenger is outdated he must go, now he is complaining about a big squad. Yes a big squad with average players that he bought while other clubs spend money on proven players with winning mentality. #WENGEROUT !!!

Is it a joke, or is it a nightmare, we can’t get out of?
Most people knew, where this was heading before the game yesterday. Our problem is leaking goals. Last year, years before that, in preseason and in the first game of the season.
In fact, the only team we have prevented from scoring in preseason and in 2 games in the league, is Sydney FC (well done).
We start yesterday with a midfield of:
Xhaka, who was never a DM or used to playing the as the midfielder to ply out from the back.
Ramsey, who is all over the place defensively.
OX, who most of the time can’t be bothered with defensive work.
And what happened, when Stoke scored? Xhaka gave the ball away, Ramsey was nowhere near to help, and the OX, who easily could have tracked back and helped out, did absolutely nothing.
It was an Arsenal/Arsene Classic.
And how on earth we end up with Bellerin as left wingback, when we have the prospect of a strong left side with Monreal and Kolasinac, I just can’t understand.
You can talk all day about transfers, but no matter, who we get, we still have one big problem, and that is the manager. He can’t:
– Fire up the players (we start every half slow)
– Organize the whole team defensively
– Stop tinkering and believing he can turn every player into something else and better

Before we get a new manager, nothing will change. Except that more and more teams will actually overtake us.

Hope an early drop of 3 points would be enough to steer the board for a 3rd signing regardless of the deadwood situation.

The team starts with the same lineup as the one at second half in the Leicester game I believe.

To be honest, I think Monreal was bad in CB, Ramsey did ok, Xhaka needs more long passes, Ozil was ok but he needs players more intelligent around him, Ox was off, Bellerin worse, I like how Laca banged it in, Giroud was great, Walcott was invisible, but the worst was Welbeck.

il say it again. Without us getn rid of that bald couch who does nothing or dosent have the authority to and a new medic to replace ours. We not going anywer. Wenger can manage but we need someone with a tactical brain and some1 who will adjust team selection depending on opposition and not just play the last team that won.

Wenger is deliberately screwing Arsenal. Conte does not have enough players. Wenger has too many??????? So he cannot buy any more. Rubbish from the only manager who admits he hates the supporters. This is his present to the supporters. Good bye Draxler. Good bye Seri, Good bye Carvalho, Good bye Lemar, Good bye Lucas Mourn, Good bye Virgil Van Dyke. Good bye any player who can help us challenge for the Premier League. Our “Specialist in failure” is leading us to humiliation because he despises the supporters. He is a manager who knows he cannot challenge for the Premier League. We have a manager who has screwed up fo the last ten years and repeats his “two top player short” policy every year. The last ten years year after year he has failed to challenge. He is a con man who does not know how to do his job any more. I am sick of his manipulating the Supporters. He has become an excuse of manager and we have him for two more years.

Not only defensive lapses arsenal lack the mentality to win match of this nature,we have bad away record against stoke,barca is closing on series and yet some arsenal fans said is not good enough cos they watched him against napoli,we need quality signings, u are one goal down and u expect Walcott to come in and turn the match around is not possible, Ramsey just turning left and right with nothing to show,ozil is not active enough as a play maker,xhaka prone to mistake,Wenger with is old philosophy….

I think we are harsh on team. They were good except one or two hiccups. We have to blame referee. This is the second consecutive game where we suffered with bad refereeing. Lacazette’s goal was awesome but that lines man got it wrong. Pieters had clearly hand ball in penalty box that also missed by linesman. I was very angry on that referee. I know we cant win EPL with this team but I am very excited to see Sanchez on left, Giroud on CF, Lacazette on right, Ozil on CAM role and Santi in CM role.
For me I still feel we must go for a CDM and backup for Santi. Please sel walcott and welback and get Mahrez (better than walcott) and draxler. So many players just warming bench. Wenger must be very straight forward and sort this out.

To me there’s no point blaming defenders when clearly your strikers can’t score many chances. I don’t knw why Wenger keep benching Iwobi for that use**less Welbeck who had the best chances but can’t score.

Attitude and approach are the two immediate things to be changed. Basic rule is to analyze the team towards the end of every season. Players, their positions and contract, how many of them are good enough to retain, extend and offload. Identify the positions to be strengthen and find proper and suitable players to be signed and a substitute in case we couldn’t sign the primary target. Offload the unwanted and sign the required players ASAP, allow them to gel together during pre season and get ready for the new season. The question is is Wenger capable of doing that and the answer is a bit no. The reason is irrespective of result he’s safe to be the manager as long as he wish to be in his position. The only target and desire of owner, board and the manager is financial benefits & security and profits rather than trophies. I’ll give just one example to prove this. Wenger identified Lemar is the primary target he needed to strengthen the attack. Chelsea find it Bakayako and Man City find Silva. After all these weeks of transfer period what happened is City bought Silva well ahead without a bargain. Chelsea also bought Bakayako little late by paying slightly higher fees and Arsenal wanted Lemar in the cheap. In the mean time clubs who all are interested in Monaco’s players did got their deals well ahead. We instead wanted to buy for him for 30 million they rejected it so royally then 35, 40 and insulted Monaco repeatedly. Monaco already bagged 150 millions plus in the mean time from other sales and decided to keep Lemar with them thinking they’ll get another 100 million by next year. In the end we ended up with nothing. Teams interested in strengthening did that without worrying about their budget and we are losers once again. We are Arsenal, with a manager, board and owner who are incapable of doing business I mean offloading the unwanted, extending the wanted and buying the needed. It’s as simple as that.
Ferguson left Man U making them champions and Wenger, in all likelihood will leave or sacked as a manager of making Arsenal from champions of 2007 to a mid table team without the glamour of much money making chapioms league.

Yes defensively we weren’t good, why on earth he plays Bellerin on the left and Montreal in the middle when better options are available I don’t know but we shouldn’t be worried about conceding 1 goal it’s the inability to score from good chances when on top that’s worrying.

Same old Arsenal. Far too easy to play against. The Xhaka and Ramsey midfield partnership has no balance. Ramsey plays so far advanced it’s ridiculous, it’s as if he’s playing as a striker. This means Xhaka is isolated in the middle. For the goal, Xhaka lost the ball but there were four players all in a line up front, we are so open defensively. This happens every time Ramsey plays so I’m sure Wenger is telling him to go walkabouts and do what he likes. In a system with 3 central midfielders this is fine but when playing as a 2 it leaves us too open, the 2 need to hold and play close together, this also makes it easier to start moves. Last year Matic and Kante played very close together, the same with Dembele and Wanyama when Tottenham played a back 3. If Ramsey plays he needs to play behind the striker, Ozil should fight for his place, he’s so talented but drifts in and out of games too much.

Also why was Kolasinac (an actual LB) taken off and not Bellerin! Bellerin was poor yesterday and has been since January, if Kola got into Bellerin’s positions he would have done something. Why was Lacazette (our best finisher) taken off when we need a goal? Love Welbeck’s endeavour but he can’t finish. Why is Walcott coming on against a team that sits back and leaves no space behind? Why was Holding out of the squad completely after 1 bad game when Walcott and Ramsey have had years of mediocre performances?

I know it’s only the start of the season but AW hasn’t learned his lessons. Need a strong, no nonsense CB and CM asap, alongside the team actually defending as a unit.

Arsene Wenger has been given a chance to right his wrongs but he’s not doing any favors for himself. The 1st game against Leicester was a warning sign about our defense & midfield, but some people took it lightly saying it was “just the 1st game with a makeshift defense.” You don’t go into a new season unprepared & expect to win. I normally say, if you can’t score, then make sure you don’t concede. We are being fed the same bullshit as the seasons before and I’m afraid it’s gonna be worse if things don’t change ASAP. Play your best players in their best positions, sell useless players & buy to strengthen your weak positions. This game was proof that nothing has changed & nothing is going to change with Wenger as manager. I had hopes but I’m totally pissed off. You can’t do the same stupid things every day & expect different results.